TORONTO — The Metropolis of Toronto lately commemorated the No. 2 Building Battalion of the First World Struggle’s Canadian Expeditionary Drive with the disclosing of a Heritage Toronto plaque, which will probably be positioned on the nook of King Road West and College Avenue.
Mayor Olivia Chow was joined by Edith Dumont, lieutenant governor of Ontario, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, minister of veterans affairs, together with members of Toronto Metropolis Council, veterans, descendants of the troopers and group members for the ceremony, which passed off on Nov. 7.
The placement of the plaque is important as it’s near the unique website of the Battalion’s enlistment workplace at 162 King St. W.
The No. 2 Building Battalion, also called the Black Battalion, was created on July 5, 1916, in the course of the First World Struggle. It was a segregated non-combatant unit, the most important all-Black navy unit in Canadian navy historical past, a launch from town reads.
The Battalion was created as a development unit and through their preliminary service in Canada, they have been answerable for eradicating rails from railway sidings in New Brunswick for delivery to France to help the struggle effort.
“The Battalion was then sent to England and on to France where they served with the Canadian Forestry Corps,” the discharge reads. “There, they helped cut timber, transported it to the lumber yards, and cut it into a finished product for use in building and reinforcing trenches.”
Additionally they maintained logging roads, operated water and electrical methods for his or her camps and cared for horses.
On the struggle entrance, they supervised Russian troopers despatched in January 1918 to their camp as labourers.
“Throughout the war members of No. 2 Construction Battalion faced racism,” town states. “They showed resilience, determination, and strength in the face of adversity. Following the end of the First World War, the unit was officially disbanded on Sept. 15, 1920. The Canadian government offered at a ceremony in July 2022 an official apology for the racism they experienced during their service to Canada.”
BLACK CULTURAL CENTRE FOR NOVA SCOTIA — Pictured is the No. 2 Building Battalion Unit — November 1916.
